𝒈𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒙; ❛ 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝒀 𝑯𝑰𝑮𝑯 ❜
↷ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅
❝ 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 ❞

𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙊𝙐𝙎𝙇𝙔 𝙊𝙉
𝙍𝙐𝙇𝙀𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝙎𝙐𝙍𝙑𝙄𝙑𝘼𝙇

"𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘴."

"𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

"𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵?"

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘣-𝘳𝘢𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦."

Gabriella always believed in science.

When it came to the choice between science or some superficial bullshit, she would always put her faith in science. Just this time, when Abby was sticking a needle full of nightblood in the arm of the man that supposedly tried to kill Emori's brother, she wasn't so sure about it.

"I hope he survives." Murphy sighed form next to her and Emori on the upper floor of the lab, all three of them staring down at Jackson and Abby starting the procedure.

"Me too."

Murphy gave Emori an amused look, "Then you can kill him?"

"Why would I do that?" Emori asked with a smug glint in her eyes that made Gabriella's eyes widen slightly in realization.

"Oh, my ── "

"It isn't him." Murphy interrupted her low gasp of surprise. He didn't seem as impressed as her, he seemed more wary and in disbelief, "Emori, who is he?"

"Someone other than me who's going into that oven." Emori shrugged and turned to narrow her eyes at Gabriella, "You're not going to say anything, are you?"

"I'm not an idiot, Emori." the blonde rolled her eyes, "Knowing Princess Clarke, she's probably gonna turn livid and test you instead of him. And I actually like you."

That was actually true. Gabriella didn't give a shit if Emori was the person Murphy was moving on with because she was far too over him to be filled with petty jealousy whenever she saw them together. Emori brought out the better version of Murphy and in all honesty? She reminded Gabriella of herself back on The Ark and when she was with Emori, she sometimes saw glimpses of what she and Murphy used to be.

And Gabriella didn't mind it. She was lucky Murphy had someone that loved him as much as she used to love him. It made her feel a little at peace because it meant he wasn't alone. Gods did she know how much he hated being alone.

Murphy looked between the two and chuckled under his breath while wearing a small but smug smirk, "Now that, that's a survivor's move."

-

"Vital signs are strong." Abby informed them with her eyes still locked on the screen in front of her, "Jackson, seal the chamber."

"Copy that."

Gabriella couldn't help the unease bubbling in the bottom of her stomach at the sight of the grounder in the radiation chamber, ready to get hit by a wave of radiation all at once.

"He's ready." Jackson said after closing the chamber.

Raven crossed her arms over her chest from next to Gabriella, her face blank and her voice void of emotion when she spoke, "Yeah. But are we?"

"The guy is a monster." Emori chimed in and Gabriella could sense a glint of alarm in her tone so she chose to interfere too.

"It's now or never right." she raised a knowing eyebrow at Clarke, who nodded.

"We've been over this. None of us wants to do this, but the death wave will be here in ten days." she ranted, "Luna's stem cells grafted successfully. Baylis is making nightblood on his own. This really is our only hope."

Gabriella could practically hear Murphy rolling his eyes, "Are we really still talking about this? Black rain is already here. Eighteen people died in it yesterday at Arkadia, so if nightblood can let us walk around in it, I, for one, want to know about that."

The Hastings girl next to him pursed her lips and cringed at the mention of what happened last night in Arkadia when black rain started. A big part of people managed to get inside in time but some were clearly not that lucky enough.

"𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪? 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘪, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯." 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘌𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳.

"𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥?" 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦.

"𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 ── 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘢. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 '𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵'?" 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, "𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧."

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘺, "𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 . . . 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳."

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦?" 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳, "𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺? 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

"𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳." 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, "𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘥."

𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘥, "𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳! 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥!"

"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸." 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥, "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵."

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳."

Gabriella was more than grateful her uncle talked Bellamy into staying in the rover but a part of her still felt sick when she remembered the fact that Peter and his dad both ended up dying from the black rain.

"Okay. Jackson, proceed." Abby ordered and her fellow doctor instantly nodded.

"Copy that. Initiating." he stared the chamber, "Five hundred REM . . . eight fifty. This is where we'd see symptoms in a non-nightblood."

Following Wells and Clarke's movements, Gabriella leaned closer to the chamber to see if there were any visible changes on Baylis that would cause them to believe nightblood wasn't working on him.

"BP is a hundred over fifty." Abby said, "Body temp is ninety-eight point seven. Resting comfortably."

"No visible effects." Clarke informed her, her eyes still locked on the unconscious grounder.

"One thousand REM. One thousand five hundred."

There was hope in Abby's voice when she spoke, "All good here."

"Two thousand REM, the level of the black rain."

Gabriella furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, confused and in disbelief that it was that easy, "Still nothing. It seems like it's working."

Wells seemed to be having the same thoughts as her because he shook her head, "It can't be that easy."

Alina rolled her eyes, "Don't be such a pessimist. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"Two thousand five hundred." Jackson turned up the radiation once more and the chamber started aggressively beeping, the sound making Gabriella freeze.

"Wait."

"No." Clarke's eyes widened and she turned to give Jackson a wide eyed look, "Turn it off!"

Jackson did as he was told but the room was still soon filled with Baylis' screams, the unbearable sound soon becoming louder than the beeping.

"It stings! It stings!"

"Get him out!" Gabriella yelled, not being able to move from her spot next to the chamber. Her wide eyes connected with Baylis' and she felt a chill run down her spine. She swallowed, feeling like she was paralyzed by the insane mix of guilt and fear.

She was the reason this was happening.

If she just told them when she found out he wasn't who Emori said he was, this all wouldn't be happening.

But then Emori would probably be the one taking his place . . .

Wells furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes scanning her terrified face and a second later he reached to open the chamber, only to have Jackson stop him, "Wait. It's not safe yet."

Gabriella clenched her jaw and dug her nails into the palms of her hands, probably hard enough to draw blood but she wasn't even aware of it. She was too busy watching Baylis spit out a large amount of black blood while also choking on it.

"Just fucking open it, Jackson!" she yelled, slamming the glass on the chamber. She felt arms wrap her arms around her waist and pull her away from the chamber, ignoring the way she fought against him.

"Calm down." Wells told her quietly, "There's nothing you can do now. It's okay."

Gabriella felt a tear roll down her cheek as she whispered back, "No, it's not."

She heard Wells sigh before he pulled her into a hug and allowed her to bury her head into his chest until she calmed down.

The sound of the flatline made her snap out of it and she looked over her shoulder to see Baylis laying in the chamber unconscious, with blood rolling down his neck.

"What have we done?"

-

"How's the weather, Queenie? Forecast still calling for death?" Murphy asked, playfully ruffling Gabriella's hair in an attempt to ease the tension in the room or to at least ease the obvious tension in her body.

She wasn't having it though.

She was too busy staring at the picture of a wave of radiation making its way to them. If they're lucky enough, they had two more weeks. But she was perfectly aware that they weren't that lucky. They probably had about ten days.

"You're hilarious." Alina deadpanned and Gabriella realised it was probably the first time she saw the princess with zero hope in her eyes. She usually always had a coy or sarcastic comment coming but she looked completely tired now.

"We could save everyone." Abby's voice snapped Gabriella out of her daze and made her turn in her direction.

"You could?" Murphy perked up with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, "So you're saying this can still work."

Abby shook her head, "Not without testing."

"The last guy just died, screaming in agony, and you wanna try it again?" Raven exclaimed in disbelief, the reminder of the events happening just a few minutes being enough to make Gabriella's head hurt.

"Give us a better idea, Raven. Please." Clarke begged desperately.

"So what? We just go out there, hunt for someone else?" Murphy raised an eyebrow.

Gabriella raised a hand in the air, her eyes still glued to the floor, "I can do it."

"You mean hunt for someone else or become a test subject?" Alina asked her in confusion.

"Either or." Gabriella shrugged with a blank look on her face.

Wells gave her a glare, "Like hell you are."

"No one's going anywhere in this storm." Miller chimed in, "And you aren't gonna sacrifice yourself for the 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 because Bellamy isn't here to stop you this time."

"When the storm pases, there may not be anyone else to hunt for." Roan sighed, walking to stand next to his sister.

"Hunting for someone else to kill." Luna scoffed in disbelief, the venom in her voice making Gabriella look down in shame, "What's the matter with you people? Even Baylis honored the dead. He wore the stones of his Rock Line ancestors." she lifted up a bracelet to prove her point, "Who will honor him?"

"Wait." Clarke furrowed he'd eyebrows, "Baylis was Sangedakru."

Emori stiffened, "He was. He was also a thief. He probably stole those stones."

"A thief who didn't bear the mark of Sangedakru." Roan narrowed his eyes at her.

Alina looked at Emori with something close to disgust, "That wasn't Baylis, was it?"

"Come on, that's crazy." Murphy scoffed, immediately moving to defend his girlfriend, "Of course it──"

"Who did we just kill?" Clarke yelled, interrupting him.

Emori threw a quick look at the chamber before trying to make a run for it. Gabriella's eyes widened and she moved to run after her when Roan stopped her by pulling Emori to his chest and putting a knife under her throat in a threatening manner.

"Murphy, take out the machine!"

Murphy gave Emori a curt nod and moved to the radiation chamber, only for Miller to stop him by putting a gun to his head while Alina pulled out one of her swords.

"Don't do anything stupid, Murphy." Miller warned him.

Alina glared at Murphy, "If you even get close to that machine I'll cut off your ear. And then your hand and your head."

"Looks like we know who's next." Roan spoke with amusement lingering in his throat that made Gabriella snap her glare away from his sister and towards him.

"Like hell she is." when she realized no one else was going to back her up, she stared between them in disbelief, "You guys can't be serious."

"Lock them up." Clarke said lowly, not moving her gaze away from Roan's, "All three of them."

Gabriella stared at her in disbelief, about to start arguing with her until Wells chimed in.

"Clarke what the fuck are you talking abou?" Wells stared at her in disbelief.

"I told you to lock them up." Clarke repeated and raised her chin to look at him, "Next to the rocket. Let's go."

Before Gabriella had a chance to move, Alina was grabbing her by her wrist and binding them together behind her back, Miller doing the same to Murphy while Roan was doing the same to Emori.

-

"Now you're gonna lock us up?" Gabriella yelled in disbelief, as Alina tied her to the metal stairs next to the rocket.

"She was just trying to save her own life. Well, we're not gonna touch your stupid machine, all right? Please, Clarke!" Murphy pleaded next to her.

"You can't do this to us, Raven, Wells please. You can't let them do this!" Gabriella added, feeling tears gather in her eyes when neither met her gaze. She let out a bitter laugh and looked at Clarke, "So much for 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. Raven was right; your father would have been so fucking proud."

Clarke stared at her for a few seconds before all of them left, closing the doors behind them.

Gabriella stared at the closed door with betrayal all over her face, refusing to believe her people, no, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, we're doing this to her. After everything they have been through they were locking her up for trying to stop them from murdering someone?

She scoffed bitterly. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴.

-

When Bellamy followed Philip and Jasper into engineering after they finally returned to Arkadia after their little day trip, he certainly wasn't expecting the area to be filled with a bunch of drunk people with loud music blasting.

"Got it started without us." Jasper complained but there was a small grin playing on his lips.

Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows, "Got what started?" but when his eyes fell on the garage turned into a dance floor, his face fell and he gave the two boys a sarcastic and deadpan look, "Fun."

Philip rolled his eyes, "Don't be such a buzzkill, Blake. Come on."

In response, Bellamy sighed heavily, not in the mood to party or to have another discussion with them.

"Everyone's gonna die, Bellamy." Jasper told him, "We can go out like them . . . " he pointed towards the people frantically working on the sidelines and then to himself, "or like us. The ending is the same, but who says the journey has to suck?" his lips tugged into a smirk as he patted Bellamy's shoulder, "Come on. Think; what would Gabriella 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘦." with that, he turned on his heel and lifted the bag of the nuts they went looking for in the woods, with Philip hot on his trail, "We come bearing fruit!"

The crowd cheered in response and before Bellamt realized it, a blonde by the name of Bree made his way to him. She was one of the girl's he slept with back when they first landed on Earth. She never meant anything to him and they both knew it. It was just a few meaningless hookups ── and also a way to keep his feelings for Gabi from growing which obviously has not worked.

"Hey." Bree greeted him with a flirty look on her face, "Dance with me."

"I don't dance." Bellamy shook his head, taking a step back and making her hand fall from his chest.

Bree pouted and leaned closer to him, whispering, "I don't really want to dance."

Bellamy sighed and took another step back and away from her, "Sorry, but I have a girlfriend. And I love her."

That was enough for her to back away, "Ella, right?"

"Yeah." he immediately nodded.

"It was pretty obvious I just didn't know you two were official. Sorry." Bree apologized and gave him a small smile before making her way back to the party.

Bellamy sighed and watched Jasper down a few shots before throwing his backpack on the floor.

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵.

-

"Murphy, enough. You can't stop this." Emori told him when he kept trying to get the ropes off his wrists.

Murphy shook his head, "No. No, Emori. I'm not letting this happen to you."

"You have to." she shot back.

Murphy furrowed his eyebrows, "What?"

"Listen to me. Make them think you're okay with this. We make Clarke think you're still with her." Emori explained, looking between Gabriella and Murphy.

"Clarke isn't that stupid." the former shook her head, "She knows me better than I would like to admit which means she knows I'm not gonna give in easily."

"Emori, I'll kill her if she even thinks about hurting you ── "

Emori quickly cut Murphy off, "No. Damn it, Murph. Think. Don't give them a reason to pick you next. Survive, please."

Gabriella's face softened but turned blank when the doors opened again.

Clarke spared her a short look and then looked at Emori, "It's time."

"Guys, just wait, okay? Hear me out." Murphy started, ignoring both Emori calling his name and everything she said before the others walked into the room.

"It'll work this time." Clarke said firmly and Gabriella wasn't so sure if she was trying to convince them or herself.

"Then how about we just go with that and forget the test?" Emori pleaded, tears in her eyes obvious.

Clarke gave Miller a short nod and he electrified Emori to make her fall unconscious.

"Miller!" Gabriella yelled, "Miller, don't. I swear to ── Miller! Miller. Stop that's an order!"

She saw him falter in his movement and he threw her a sad and apologetic look before untying Emori and picking her unconscious body up, ignoring Murphy's threats in the process.

"I'll kill you ── No. Miller, Miller, Miller, please. Miller, just look at me, man. You don't need to do this."

Miller shook his head, "I wish that were true."

"You don't have to do this!" Murphy yelled, but this time in Clarke's direction, "Who the hell do you think you are, huh?"

"I'm trying to save us."

Murphy scoffed, venom driving from his voice, "Save us? Ah, right. Wanheda, savior of us all! But maybe you're forgetting the last time you saved us, I was saving you!"

"I'm not forgetting." Clarke yelled back, her voice breaking a little.

"You haven't forgotten?" Murphy raised his eyebrows, "Then, please, you don't need to do this. Don't do it. Please, please, you don't need to do this. You know, it's too bad that you weren't a real Nightblood because then you could have been Commander. Imagine how many people you could've killed then. Tell me something, after you murder Emori, am I next? Or Ellie? Okay! I'm begging you, please. I love her. Don't do this."

Gabriella's eyes widened at the outburst and she gaped at him for a few seconds and then turned to Clarke with her chin raised in the air.

"I'll do it."

"Like hell you are!" Wells exclaimed, looking at her like she was crazy but she didn't take her eyes off Clarke.

"You want to not have a 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 guaranteed place in hell?" she taunted the Griffin, "Then test me. I'm volunteering, aren't I? So just test me." 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘧𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴.

"Ellie, no." Murphy shook his head.

"This isn't your choice to make." Gabriella shot back, a little louder than she meant to.

Clarke looked at her for a few seconds during which Gabriella could see the wheels in her head turning. Then, she turned towards Alina, "Untie her."

Alina furrowed her eyebrows, surprising Gabriella with the hesitancy in her voice, "Are you sure?"

Her question was directed to Gabriella and not to Clarke, so she nodded and then watched the Azgeda Princess cut the ropes from her wrists.

"Hey. Look at me." Murphy spoke up again when she got to her feet, his eyes locked with Clarke's once again, "If she dies . . . you die."

The last thing Gabriella heard before Roan dragged her back into the lab were Murphy's angry screams.

When Abby layed eyes on her, her mouth fell open in disbelief and she turned to give her daughter a wide eyed look, "You can't be serious."

"She volunteered." Clarke defended herself as Gabriella was dragged towards Jackson who was waiting for her with an injection full of nightblood in his hand.

"I know how to walk, asshat." Gabriella snapped at Roan, throwing her a harsh glare over her shoulder.

He rolled his eyes but still let go of her forearms. The blonde threw one last glance at Emori's unconscious body on the table and then made her way to Jackson, allowing him to tie a rubbed band around her lower forearm.

"Hold on." Wells' voice broke the tense silence, making everyone turn their attention to him, "If she's doing it I'm doing it."

Gabriella shook her head, "Look, Charming, this isn't the time for your hero complex ── "

"I wasn't asking, Ella." he cut her off stubbornly, "I'm doing it."

"Wells . . . " Alina trailed off, staring up at her lover in disbelief.

"I'm doing it." Wells repeated, looking back at her, "This isn't your choice to make."

Jackson gave Abby a hesitant look, who refused to meet his gaze, before he nodded and tied a rubber band around Wells arm too. He took the injection and walked back to Gabriella, putting the needle right below the rubber and injecting it into her skin.

Gabriella was biting her bottom lip harshly, not looking away from the black blood slowly entering her system. She swallowed harshly and watched Jackson do the same thing to Wells after grabbing another filled up injection.

What no one was expecting was for Clarke to march up to the table with one last nightblood injection and grab it in her hand.

"I bear it so they don't have to." she muttered to herself and no one had time to react before she was sticking the needle into her own arm. She gave her tear eyed mother a sad look, "We're testing all of us. But I'm going first."

-

"It worked." Clarke gasped in awe as Jackson's blood test on Gabriella revealed that now, she had black blood.

"It's been two hours, how do you feel?" Jackson asked, looking between all of them on the table.

"Like a fucking alien." Gabriella bluntly stated and watched a small smile tug at his lips before he turned to Clarke and Wells.

The former sighed, "Ready."

She got to her feet and walked towards the radiation chamber, but Abby blocked her way and stepped in front of her, "I won't let you do it."

"If it will make you feel better I'll go first." Gabriella chimed in, getting annoyed that this was taking this long.

"No." Abby said stubbornly, "You're Marcus' daughter. I'm not taking you away from him."

"I trust you, mom. It will work." Clarke told her softly and looked at Jackson, "Turn it on."

"Jackson, don't." Abby ordered, "Clarke, if you go in there, you will die."

"Wow, the optimism in here is killing me." Gabriella muttered under her breath sarcastically, making Wells nudge their ankles together to silently tell her to cut it out.

"I saw it." Abby added, her words making all of them furrow their eyebrows in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Abby repeated it, "I saw it."

"Like I saw the rocket." Raven said in realization and Gabriella's eyes widened.

Clarke clearly didn't get it because she shook her head, "We're wasting time."

She moved to brush past her mother, only for her to grab a metal bar and smash it against the glass on the radiation chamber.

"Abby!"

"Abby, don't!"

Gabriella stared at the women with wide eyes, "Abby, what the fuck?"

"Don't worry." Luna broke the tense silence that followed her words, 'It will all be over soon now."

The Hastings watched Clarke move to comfort Abby and put her head in her hands, "Gods, we are so fucked."

a/n: this is now officially an emori x gabi x raven book

can I just take a moment to thank yall for 50k on book one?? because I literally screamed when I saw it and I can't thank you guys enough